The Corpsman
by saxwarrior
Summary: Kept forgetting what happens in the story because I don't run enough. So I thought I'd write it down. And then I thought I'd publish it. Just for fun. I'm basically recreating the story as if I am Runner 5. I take some creative liberties and the dialogue is verbatim.


Zombies, Run!

Chapter 1

Jolly Alpha Five Niner

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Author's Note: I've tried playing Zombies, Run, and I love the story, but I keep forgetting what happens so I'm constantly restarting from Episode 1. Finally, I just decided to write it down and make my own additions to the story. I'm basically recreating the story, just from my own perspective and as if I really were Runner 5. I take some creative liberties and I'm especially trying to work on my action sequences, because I feel that's something my stories lack. The script and dialogue is verbatim from the game. Hope y'all enjoy!

My name is classified, but my call sign is Justus. It's Biblical, I think. Before the zombie apocalypse, I was a Marine in a Special Operations Command unit. Several months after civilization fell and started to get rebuilt in tiny city states I was drafted by some very powerful and resourceful people to coordinate survival efforts across the colonies.

I think that's as much as I can say about my missions and assignments right now. I think I'll be the only one to see these entries, but it's the end of the world. I could die and I wouldn't want this laptop falling into the wrong hands.

But let me start at the beginning of the day. I was on an assignment to Able Township. Where that is and why I was going there is also classified. But I was being ferried there by an RAF pilot in an SA 330 Puma.

The pilot was a woman, but I've already forgotten her name. She was about my age, I guess. Olive toned skin and an RAF insignia on her uniform indicated she was a Flight Lieutenant. At least, I think that's what the ranking is called. I was in the United States Marines and the UK's military is similar, but not exact.

She was quite a talker. I tuned her out for most of the ride- my instructions were not to speak to anyone. And I wasn't about to disobey.

As we approached, I started to hear what she was saying though. "Able Township's just on the horizon. See it now?"

I peered through the open door. I saw what looked like fortified hardwood fences and walls and perhaps the glint of solar panels in the distance. It didn't look like much, even from up here.

"Not much more than a few fences to keep the zoms out," the lieutenant explained, shaking her head. "I don't know how they live like that. Guess they won't be living like that much longer."

I kept my mouth shut.

I heard the cackle of static on my transponder and heard her voice clearly for once from my headgear, for once not dimmed by the sound of the rotars. "Albe Township, this is Jolly Alpha Five Niner from Mullins Military Base. We've five clicks out approaching from the east, bringing med supplies, shelters, and lone of one of our people. Able Township- Jolly Five Niner requesting permission to land."

I heard another voice come out of my headgear. "Got that. Er… I mean… Roger that. You're clear to… Yeah, you can- you can come on in."

Clearly not someone used to communicating with military personnel. Most colonies that had sprung up were independent and self-reliant. A lot of them wanted nothing to do with what remained of the old world's establishment, but then there were some that were completely helpless. This guy sounded like one of them.

The lieutenant replied. "Roger, Able. Heading down now."

She deactivated her transponder and spoke to me directly, shouting to be heard over the rotors. "Level with me," she said, "you and me both know we haven't got half of the usual supplies. We've _lied_ to the township."

I said nothing, not wanting to make eye contact, even though both of us were wearing aviator sunglasses. "Yeah, I know," she said, not expecting a response. "You don't know anything. Someone at Able is gonna come up to you and say 'I'm gonna brief you on Project Greensheet,' and then you'll find out what your mission really is. I just- what the?"

We both saw it. The crack appeared across the windshield and there was a flash of light. We both realized instantly- someone had taken a shot at us.

"Who's shooting?" she asked. "That's not from the township." Like it mattered? We needed to get on the ground fast, but before I could say anything, she said, "Who the hell has a rocket launcher in this secto-" then my ears were deafened by an explosion.

I lost my balance as the Puma started to spin out of control.

"We're hit," said the Lieutenant, dumbly. "I've lost the tail rotor." She was in shock, not even grasping at the controls. I started fumbling with my harness, ready to bail out. I turned to the door. I heard her voice in my headgear again. "Mayday, mayday, Jolly Alpha Five Niner going down three clicks east of Able Township. Two souls onboard."

The ground was spinning and rushing up to meet us all at once. I was looking for a safe place to jump, but there was nothing but forest around us.

I heard the same voice from before on my headgear. "This is Able Township calling. Supply copter, can you hear us? You're coming down fast."

So they had a visual on us. That was good to know, although it wouldn't be for long once we were below the tree line. And we'd be blind down there. The good news is, this sector had already been mapped with the bio-scanners. And I had my mobile scanner set up on my wrist.

The voice continued. "Can any of you hear us?" I looked back at the pilot. She had failed to get her O2 mask on and had passed out, still strapped to her seat. I looked back at the ground- there was no time for me to grab her and pull her out before we hit the trees… The voice from my headgear said something about chutes. Stupid man- like a parachute would do any good from this height. I'd hit a tree before I even had an opportunity to deploy it. I needed an open space and if I was very, very lucky, I could survive.

I heard glass smashing- the cockpit had hit a treebranch. There was a rush in my ear and a sharp pain in my mouth- I'd bitten my tongue. Shit. What was that smell? Something was burning and I knew there was O2 on board. I tasted blood in my mouth. There was too much stimulation… One second… two seconds…

There was a gap in the tree line. I took it.

I landed on my feet and quickly tucked and rolled. There was a sharp pain in my mouth again, and I tasted more blood. I opened it and felt it come out in a disgusting slobber. I was on an incline and I started rolling quickly. I hadn't timed my landing perfectly and I noticed that my hips seemed sore. That would make walking painful, but as far as I could tell, there would be no permanent damage.

I rolled to the bottom of the hill and finally let my body settle, my heart racing. There was still a lot of noise coming from the copter… and it was getting closer. I felt a wave of heat and realized that the helicopter had fallen almost right on top of me, and it came rolling down past me, a burning mass of twisted metal flying right over my head.

It's momentum kept it rolling away from me and it finally settled against a mass of shrubs at the bottom of the hill. I breathed a sigh of relief and forced myself to stand up. I was in no man's land with no transports. But at least I had comms.

My comms. Shit. Where was my headgear?

My headgear had fallen off in the fall. Shit. Shit. Shit. Where was it? I tried to curse out loud, but my tongue didn't seem to work. There was an odd sensation in my mouth, and I could no longer taste any blood, even though I could feel my mouth bleeding badly.

Ignore it.

I saw my headgear about twelve feet away from me. I rushed towards it and pulled it over my ears. Silence. I removed it and scanned for all radio frequencies in the area. When I put it back on, I heard that same voice, a little garbled but I was still able to hear them.

"-ownship calling. Over. If there's anyone alive, if you've got your parachute open, this is Samuel out from Able Township." I tried to reply but nothing came out of my mouth but blood. What had happened to my mouth? He groaned. "I'm just a… I'm just a radio operator, man. I'm not supposed to handle this stuff…"

I considered turning the headgear off. I wasn't gonna get anywhere with this. I stood up and made my way towards the wreckage while he was talking. The pilot was dead and all the supplies were burning. I wiped the blood off my mouth and felt something large and damp. Horrifying realization gripped me when I remembered the pain in my mouth just as the copter hit the trees.

I had bitten completely through my tongue. I froze for a second with my limp tongue in my hand and gave it a tug. A gush of blood and it snapped off.

Pre-apocalypse Justus could've gone to reconstructive surgery but as far as I knew, there was no such thing. Pre-apocalypse Justus would've gotten ice on it right away, but there was none out here in the middle of the woods. But the copter! Maybe there'd be an icepack in the first aid kit!

I looked through the remains to find anything useful. I saw the first aid kit, it's contents spilled out and soaked with slowly burning fuel. The only thing I found was a duffle bag capable of holding maybe fifty pounds of stuff. I strapped it onto my back and it bounced when I moved. Until I put some weight in it, it was gonna be annoying.

Then, Samuel said something that made my bones chill. "You've come down in a horde of zombies. They've heard the noise. They're coming."

I checked my mobile bio-scanner. It should've alerted me if there were traces of the virus within fifty feet. My stomach sank when I realized- it had been damaged in the fall. I turned it on and it lit up blue and the little stenciled letters scrolled across the tiny screen- CALIBRATE?

Shit. The only way to do that was to let one get close enough so the scanner could learn to recognize the virus. As long as my device wasn't working, getting close to one shouldn't be a problem.

I listened to Samuel stammer on about the zombies. First he guessed thirty, then forty and I begged him to stop guessing because if there were that many, the bio-scanners wouldn't be able to differentiate between the individuals anyway. At some point you just had to say "too many to count- get the hell out of there" and say a prayer.

"Aw, crap," said Sam. Your only safe path is towards the tower." I glanced around wildly. What tower? How was I supposed to see anything in these woods?

"If there's anyone alive, there, just run. Run!"

I didn't need telling twice. I started racing through the trees, the twigs and leaves on the ground snapping and cracking under my feet. The zombies would have no trouble hearing me and following me, no doubt going wild at the smell of blood coming from my mouth. It started pouring faster as my heart rate increased and I tried to keep my jaws pressed tight, knowing that it would do nothing to stop the bleeding. I frequently spit the blood accumulating in my mouth out. In addition to this, my hips did start to ache and once I'd put some distance between myself and the crash site, I allowed my legs to limp quickly instead of running. Once the adrenaline was used up, the pain washed over me, but I couldn't stop moving. It was also good to take a slower pace so the empty duffle bag on my shoulder would stop bouncing so much. I needed to get some weight in it.

I kept looking up and around, looking for Samuel's tower. It was no use. There were no structures around. I was in the middle of the woods. If only I could find a street or a path- something that I could follow to find civilization- or at least what was left of it.

I could hear the zombies behind me- they weren't exactly quiet.

If you don't know much about human decomposition, all you really need to know is that it's mostly caused by maggots and bacteria, and maggots and bacteria get on flesh that's exposed to the air. So if you can't bury or burn a body because it's trying to eat you, the maggots and bacteria get to the body a lot quicker. The first things to go are usually skin and muscle mass. The blood usually drains into the legs and they get dark and bloated. So the loss of skin, muscle mass, and blood draining make it hard for the zombies to move very fast.

Unless they're recently dead.

Then, I realized I could hear something else. Music? I looked around, but there was no one and nothing except woods. And zombies, somewhere.

Then I realized I was being stupid. The headgear was picking up all frequencies- the music was probably coming toward Able Township.

This was typical of most city states or colonies or whatever you called the little communities that sprung up. They played music on the radio- just like old days- so that people could follow the signal and find their location. Finding an old iPod or MP3 player was much easier than having someone broadcasting continuously, talking into emptiness and never hearing anything back.

I didn't recognize the song. It was a single male singer and an acoustic guitar, singing a song about pretending to be someone he's not. It was very emo. Probably a college kid doing a home recording.

Something caught on my ankle and I kicked it up ahead of me. At first I thought it was a snake and I about jumped out of my skin. Hard to think that in the midst of everything that was going on, that the dangers of the old world still existed.

But I realized it wasn't a snake. It looked like a power adaptor for an electronic device. It was heavy and black.

I heard the zombies coming. It'd have to do for now.

I picked it up and started wrapping it in a coil tightly as I continued to run. As soon as it was good, I reached behind my head and shoved it in the duffle bag.

The bag was still pretty loose and light, so it didn't help much, and when it did bounce, the cord banged up against my back. But I could pick up more things as I ran and it would work.

As I ran through the woods, putting more and more distance behind me, I started to wonder about the music tastes of whoever was selecting the songs I was hearing. After the home recording, I heard what sounded like a song from a fairy tale musical- definitely referencing scenes from Cinderella- and then another home recording involving wind and percussion instruments that sounded vaguely Hawaiian.

I ran suddenly into a campsite. It looked abandoned- there was no food or weapons lying around, but the tent was still set up. Someone must've left in a hurry. Peeking inside the tent, I couldn't even find a sleeping bag or a pillow. But I did find a bag of dirty clothes. Perfect. I shoved it into my duffle bag and kept moving.

Suddenly, I saw a break in the trees. Open air was just ahead. I raced out and immediately saw the tower Samuel must've been talking about. There were fewer trees around me now and my line of sight was excellent. I looked back at the tower. It was part of the township and hardly could be called a tower. It was maybe thirty feet tall and it looked more like a grain silo for a farmhouse than anything else. Was that what Able Township was before? A farm?

Before I could think too long about it, I heard Samuel's voice cut in- silencing my music. So he was the one broadcasting the weird stuff.

"Wow! There's… there's someone alive down there! Running!"

He could see me! I tried to wave my hand in the air but I was probably still too far away to see any kind of movement like that, even with binoculars.

"Hey!" Samuel said. "Can you hear me?"

I didn't have any way to reply.

"No answer," came Samuel's disappointed voice. "Still… look at him go. Heading for the Tower, just like I said."

Always better to be lucky than good, I thought.

"Okay, running person, if you can hear me… well, you're going great. The main group's behind you and you're going to come out of this forest soon, but there's a… yeah… well, I can't think of a phrase that not… small army of zombies… sorry… don't do so well under massive pressure."

Great, I thought sarcastically. I'm so glad this is gonna be the guy who saves my life. Or gets me killed.

"There's uh… one of those directly to the east of the trees." I looked towards the sun and saw the shuffling figures. They hadn't seen me yet and were ambling toward the rising smoke in the woods from where the helicopter had crashed. But if they caught up to and mingled with the group that was probably a quarter mile or so behind me and on my tail, they'd probably get caught up in the excitement and join the hunt.

I started to move a little slower "So if you head more towards the old sawmill… you should be able to see the massive red signs for it from where you are…"

In fact I did. I came up to a two-lane road and just up ahead, maybe thirty yards or so, I saw a faded red sign telling drivers to take a left up ahead and to watch for slow-moving utility vehicles. I cut across the road and started racing west, more or less away from the Township, but also away from the zombies.

"Ah, man! Look at that!" came Samuel's excited voice. "They're changing direction! They can hear me! YOU can hear me!" I couldn't help but smile. Maybe this guy could help me out a little.

"Okay…" he said. "Okay… we can keep you safe… it's cool, it's cool… we can bring you in."

I didn't know if he was trying to reassure me or himself, but either way, it didn't seem to be working.

I could see the Saw Mill now, surrounded by a chain link fence with barbed wire on top. The gates were closed and locked except for the front entrance where there was a booth for someone to admit cars and drivers. I wouldn't try to raid the Saw Mill just now, but I could check out the booth at least. I started running towards it.

Then I heard Samuel's muffled voice… it sounded like he was talking to someone in the room with him. I couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

Then I heard a new voice- a female voice who sounded a little bit older than Samuel.

"This is Doctor Myers, only medic here at Abel Township. Lord knows I'm sorry to ask you this, but your route will take you almost past the old hospital."

Perfect! I thought. I could find something for my mouth and maybe pick up some more things to line my duffle bag with.

The doctor continued. "We know there's a medical kit still there from the first wave of infection. If you could pick up even one or two, that would help us."

Then Samuel's voice again. It sounded like he and Dr. Myers were arguing. After a moment, the doctor spoke to me again. "I don't want to be hardheaded, but everyone in this township earns their keep. You should be able to see Robinson hospital now- one of the buildings, Gryphon Tower, is the tallest in the abandoned city. And if you can't find anything… we might not be able to let you in when you get here."

It sounded like an empty threat- after all they were expecting me. But I needed to get to that hospital anyway. And if I could get them something that would let me in through the gates with no questions asked- especially considering there were questions I DID NOT WANT asked- then all the better.

As I approached the saw mill I started wondering about whoever's songs I was listening to. It seemed like they recorded most of them themselves- or maybe Abel Township had it's only little music group. That was quaint.

The first singer definitely had an American accent though, but the next song that came up was an American male and a British female singing a love duet. I listened curiously, trying to get an understanding of the Township before I realized both voices were singing of their love for the same other individual.

I rolled my eyes.

I reached the front entrance to the saw mill and stepped into the booth. There was a chair but not much else. I checked the utility closet but all I found was a box of incandescent light bulbs. I added them to my bundle, knowing they probably would break if I was too rough, but I was getting sick of the duffle bag bouncing up against me.

I raced around the saw mill's perimeter fence and saw the hospital up ahead, maybe half a mile. I went for it.

Once I was through the entrance to the Emergency Room, I realized how dumb I'd been. The place was completely ransacked- anything valuable here would've been taken months ago probably.

The floor was littered with trash and things looters must've thought not valuable enough to take. But I was maybe a little smarter than a panicked rioter, so I figured I'd look around and sure enough, underneath a discarded hospital town I found two intact first aid kits. I opened one and found an icepack. Perfect. I cracked it over my knee and shoved it into my mouth as best as I could. It had a crisp coolness that made my teeth ache but I sucked it up. I shoved some cotton balls in there as well. It was the best I could do for now. Now I just needed to make sure I didn't choke on them as I moved around.

I crept slowly into the next room, the doors swinging wide to admit me.

Hospitals are dangerous in the zombie apocalypse. They were where most of the outbreaks originated and the infection spread quickly. Most of them were still home to dozens or even hundreds of zombies. In a big hospital like this, with maybe a dozen beds on each floor- I could be up against another "small army". During the initial outbreak it became policy across the world to quarantine every hospital with even a single case of the infection.

But it was too little too late.

As I made my way through the hospital, I heard Samuel's voice again. "Okay… okay. Man, that's great, you're making good time… No broken bones I guess!"

I laughed and wished I could reply. "Hey, listen," he said. "I'm gonna call you Runner Five… Just 'cause. I don't know your name, and we just lost a runner… in that same hospital you're running through now…"

My spirits evaporated. This was a cheerful subject.

"She was so fast and really funny, and clever and me and her we sort of…" Samuel trailed off. I didn't want to think about it. I made my way through the hallways, looking for some sign that would tell me where these med kits were.

Sam went on. "She was amazing. But hey, you could be our new Runner Five. If you make it back alive." He laughed nervously then cleared his throat. "Yeah, the runners are pretty important to keeping us going here… any fuel we have goes to working the generators and the truth is if you've got two legs and you can go above a slow shamble, you'll be able to stay out of the zoms' way, am I right?"

More or less. Made lots of sense. The trouble would be finding people crazy enough to do it.

"Huh. Yeah, ok, your pace is good, but maybe head through the ground floor of the hospital? There's a little swarm gathering in the parking lot I don't like the look of and… yeah that's good. You could even pick anything interesting you pass… We think there might be some… well, we sent the old Runner Five there looking for some file the doc's interested in. So… you know… if you find anything official looking lying around…"

Just as he switched back to the music- this time playing a Beatles song that I actually knew- I rounded the corner to the main entrance of the hospital. There was a receptionist desk and sitting on top of it was a small package and a clipboard on top. It had never been signed for.

The package was stamped by the Health Protection Agency, the Center for Disease Control in the US, the World Health Organization, and several others I didn't recognize. It wasn't very big- maybe large enough to contain a small stack of documents. But anything helped. I shoved the package in my duffle bag.

Looking through the cabinets I found three more first aid kits and in a mini-fridge, I found a bottle of water. I kept the icepack and cotton balls in my mouth, so I set the water in my duffle bag for later.

As Samuel played another fairy tale musical that I didn't recognize, but sounded suspiciously like Disney, I started finding more and more things. The front entrance to the hospital was more or ess, untouched- possibly thanks to the horde of zombies in the parking lot. I found a tin of food, two packs of bandages, and in the patient lockers I found a pair of men's pants.

With my duffle bag more or less stuffed with goodies, I started moving back down the hallway I'd come from. I passed the ER where I'd entered and came to the waiting room near the ICU.

Suddenly, Samuel's voice crackled over the radio, startling me. "Hey! There you are! I've got you on camera now!"

I looked around the waiting area and saw a wireless camera set up underneath a skylight. It looked like it was hooked up to a solar-powered charging station. I smiled. That was clever.

"Good to see you!" Samuel said, "even though you're kind of blurry!"

I walked up to the waiting area and opened my duffle bag, pulling out the package I'd found. I held it up to the camera.

"What's that you're carrying?" came Samuel's voice again, then quickly, "Look at this, doc. Runner Five picked up something in the hospital."

"Is that the Health Protection Agency file?" asked Dr. Myers.

"What's that?" asked Samuel.

I started putting it away. "Runner Five," came Dr. Myers' voice. "I don't say this lightly. That box could be worth your life to protect. Don't drop it."

I nodded, hoping the camera would pick it up.

"What is it?" asked Samuel.

"It might be nothing, it might be everything," was all the Doctor said.

I heard something behind me, and suddenly I smelled it too. I whirled around. A zombie in a hospital gown was ambling slowly toward me, moaning.

Samuel and the Doctor had both seen it too and were both shouting instructions in my ear. I turned and bolted out the nearest exit. Suddenly, I was in another parking lot and zombies were absolutely everywhere.

I vaguely acknowledged Samuel's instructions to run, and I did.

The zombies were converging from every side- I had to bob and weave around them- God, I wish I'd had a gun.

I saw an ambulance parked on the road a short distance away and I started moving toward it as fast as my aching and limping legs could carry me. I heaved myself in and slammed the doors, trying to catch my breath.

The music was playing again- this time quiet and soft instrumental music. Not at all appropriate for a zombie chase. I checked my mobile bio-scanner again. I could try to calibrate it to one of the zombies outside the ambulance, but they'd almost surely catch me before I got the chance.

Inside the ambulance, I looked around for anything useful. This had also been ransacked, but I was able to find a couple of bottles of pain meds that had rolled up underneath the seat. There was also a USB in the glove compartment. In the upright cabinets, I found a pair of crutches and another pair of men's trousers. I set the crutches aside and placed everything else in my duffle. The zombies outside were surrounding the ambulance, clawing at the windshield.

I checked the ambulance for keys but found nothing.

I had to act fast before more came. I took a crutch in each hand and held them like a club. I unlocked the door and kicked it open as hard as I could. The zombies directly in it's way were easily knocked off balance and I leaped over them, landing hard on already hurt legs. I started limping away as quickly as I could, around the hospital, back towards the grain silo I'd seen before. There were some small houses and structures I had to move around first, but then it would be more or less of a straight shot. Right?

As I moved as quickly as I could, I heard the next song come up and once again I had to laugh. Jimmy Buffett's "Cheeseburger in Paradise". The very first line is "Tried to amend my carnivorous habits". What better song to listen to while being pursued by cannibals.

The next building I came to was a convenience store, located across the street and on the corner by the hospital. I closed the door behind me and the zombies pressed themselves up against it, snapping and clawing at me through the glass.

The store was also pretty ransacked, but kicking aside discarded paper and candy wrappers I managed to find a small pack of batteries and Band-Aids.

With the zombies out front, I went out the backdoor. There I saw a woman lying in the grass. I tried to call out, forgetting for a second that my tongue was completely gone. It wasn't until then that I realized I'd dropped the icepack and cottonballs in the parking lot.

I spit out what blood there was. The bleeding seemed to be more or less stopped.

The woman looked up and I saw the paleness of her face- she was already dead.

But she still looked good for dead. She was in a tightly fitting sports bra and yoga pants. She had a bio-scanner on her wrist almost exactly like mine. Her hair was in a pony tail.

She couldn't have been dead more than thirty hours. She still looked almost human. I was tempted to calibrate my bio-scanner with her, but I could tell she would be too hard to get away from. Zombies who are recently dead can move much faster than you think and they don't get tired. I needed to sprint.

I raced through a small grove of trees out a dirt road. It looked like this road led more or less to the grain silo I'd seen. There was a pasture, but the animals were all gone and the fence was deteriorated. I clambered through it and started running, following the road.

The zombie easily hurdled the fence and kept coming after me, her arms pumping at her side.

I heard Samuel's voice again. "They're so fast? Why are they so fast? They never run, why are they running? Runner Five! Runner Five! They're gaining on you!"

He didn't need to tell me that- the smell of death was overwhelming. I could practically hear her groans in my ear. Feel her ragged breath on my neck. Feel her claws gripping on the sleeves of my uniform.

I tried to shout "No!" but it came out like "Ughgh!" I swung the crutch at her legs and swiped them out from underneath her. She hit the ground hard but was up again in a flash.

I heard the Doctor's voice in my head. "Runner Five! You're not far from the gates now. If you can keep going, we'll send some people with guns out to meet you. Only one zombie is close to reaching you. Just put on a burst of speed now."

Injuries be damned, I stopped allowing my legs to limp. I was true to form and started running as professionally as the zombie had. Every bone ached. Every muscle screamed. I ignored it. I'd been through worse than this in the Corps and I was so close to safety.

I heard Samuel's voice again, and I wondered if he realized he was still transmitting. "Oh god, it's her. I can see her. It's… it's the old Runner Five… She's the one chasing you… she's… she's still wearing her uniform… she's…"

I heard a new voice and imagined that someone had taken the microphone away from Samuel. "Runner Five, it's Runner Seven here, head of runners. The doctor's told me you've found something useful in the hospital. We're sending out a couple of people to bring you in. Just keep running. As fast as you can. Don't look back. She's right behind you. Just run."

I wondered how many times these people talking in my ear would tell me to run as if there was anything else I could conceivably do.

The music was playing in my ear- more fairy tale musical but again nothing I recognized. It transitioned into purely instrumental and there was a sound effect of a wolf howling, but it wasn't loud enough to drown out the zombie right behind me.

She was going to catch up. I had to find a way out of this. My heart was pounding. My lungs were dying. I needed a way to…

She grabbed at my sleeve again and I cried out. I heard the fabric ripping and I slipped. There was a moment of pure horror as I fell in the ground and my face hit the soft earth. I had dropped both crutches. Shit!

I grabbed for one and swung it aimlessly, blinking dirt into my eyes. It seemed to connect and I heard the zombie make a pained sound. Then she was on top of me.

I grabbed her pony tail and yanked as hard as I could.

Her soft skin ripped at her neck and I smelled the strong scent of methane and hydrogen sulfide. Green fluids leaked out and I kept my eyes and mouth shut tight to avoid infection. I used my body mass to roll her on her back and slam her head into the earth. It wasn't enough- her jaw was still moving up and down. I grabbed both crutches and used them to haul myself up and keep running. I couldn't waste energy fighting a zombie, especially when there were more coming.

She was up again in a second and I started to think I wasn't getting out of it.

Then, like a lighthouse in a storm, I saw a car on it's side in a ditch by the dirty road. The door was open and I pulled myself in and slammed it shut.

She banged her forehead against the glass and snarled at me, but I didn't care. I caught my breath. My foot hit something and I looked down. There was a book underneath my feet. I grabbed it.

There was another pounding as she hit her forehead against the window again. It started to crack. If she got in, I would die. I needed to get out. The other door was pressed up against the side of the ditch. I'd never get out that way.

This was where I was gonna die. She'd break the window before the people from the township could get to me.

I looked at the book in my hands. It was a French-English Dictionary. I imagined what must've happened. A poor Frenchman- maybe a student or something- desperately struggling to understand the words Abel Township was telling them, or how to reply as they approached. Driving their car. Flipping through the pages. Not paying attention to the road. Then suddenly they were in the ditch and the book fell to their feet.

How'd they get out?

There was an open sunroof just above my head. I could've screamed for joy. I looked in the backseat- they'd taken everything with them. All that remained were two unopened packs of underwear with French labels. I shoved them in my duffle bag and heaved it and the crutches out of the sunroof. I clambered through and then I was running again.

I saw two trucks in the distance bearing down on me and my zombie pursuant.

In the back of each of the trucks were men with guns- 7.62 mm semi-automatic rifles by the look of them. Standard issue for the British military operations in Afghanistan since 2010 unless I was mistaken. They were firing their weapons over my head, trying to deter the zombies.

"This way! This way! Run!" yelled one of the men.

I ran towards the trucks- one went to my left and one went to my right.

I heard Samuel's voice again, softly, "They're going to shoot her…"

He and the doctor were speaking too softly to be heard over the gunfire.

Then I heard one soldier yell "Run, we've got her!" just as I ran past their truck.

There was a single gunshot and when I looked back, she was on the ground.

The trucks wheeled around and the gunner who'd shot the old Runner Five grabbed my hand and heaved me up into the bed of the truck.

I heard Samuel's voice in my head. "Raise the gates! Raise the gates!"

The trucks zoomed through an opening in the wooden perimeter fence. I saw the silo above me with the word "ABEL" written in black paint. There was an old farm house but the rest of the enclosure looked to be filled with tents and tables, like a cross between a refugee camp and a farmer's market. There were men constructing an expansion around the silo, as if they were expanding a wider watch tower. There was a satellite receiver and the farmhouse was covered in mismatched solar panels.

That was all I could take in before I was swarmed by people of various ages, shapes, sizes, and colors. I heard a familiar voice- Sam, making his way through the crowd, instructing them to back off. I let the duffle bag fall to the ground and then everything went dark.


End file.
